Worcester bar remains closed following flood last week

  • 1 Exchange Place in Worcester (Google)

    WORCESTER – A flood that closed a popular Downtown Worcester bar last week will keep it shuttered "well into next week," according to a social media post.

    The incident temporarily extinguished the lights at Michael's Cigar Bar, located in the historic Worcester building at 1 Exchange Place.

    According to a post on the bar's Facebook page on Friday, August 18th, the cause of the closure stemmed from flooding in the transformer vault that supplies power to the structure. As a safety precaution, the building's power has been shut off, pending thorough inspections by city authorities.

    The bar initially thought the flood would keep the bar closed just last weekend.

    In a Facebook post on Monday, the bar said it remained closed.

    In a post today (Friday, August 25th), the bar wrote, "It appears the power will remain off to the building well into next week.

    "Building management is waiting on coordination between the utility and the electrical contractors, which hasn't been completed. We expect to know more on Tuesday 8/29 and we will provide an update then."

    Michael's Cigar Bar expressed gratitude for the community's ongoing support, adding, "We look forward to serving you again soon when the lights come back on!"

    1 Exchange Place is part of the Waldo Street Police Station, District Court and Insurance Fire Patrol complex that is listed as historic by the Mass. Historical Commission. The complex was build in 1918.

    "The property occupies a full city block between Waldo Street and Commercial Streets and is comprised of two masonry civic buildings constructed in 1918 to serve as the headquarters for the Worcester Police Department, District Court & Insurance Fire Patrol," the state filing reads. "The brick buildings were designed by the prominent local architect, George H. Clemence, who was well-known for designing a number of municipal and institutional buildings in Worcester county during the late-19th and early-20th centuries. The Police Station and District Court building is an ornate, four-story, brick and terracotta Renaissance Revival structure, with an attached two-story brick Garage at the rear. The Insurance Fire Patrol building, located at the northeast corner of the lot, is utilitarian in style, with modest Classical Revival style details."

    Further updates regarding the re-opening of the establishment will be available on their official Facebook page.

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